New Potomac Heritage 50K Report

Congratulations to all who finished and/or participated in the
inaugural running of the new Potomac Heritage 50K course on November
2! November 2 was a very warm day and foliage was at its peak on the
trails. Fifty-five runners started. All finished a significant
portion of the course and 31 finished the entire course.

I was particularly pleased with the number of female entrants. Out
of the initial field of 68 entrants, 30 were women. We thought this
might be due to the presence of one of People Magazine’s “50
most eligible bachelors”, but it turned out that most of the
women were unaware of this celebrity presence.

The first 50K runner to arrive at the finish was Mike Wedemeyer, who
finished in 5:15. He was followed by Scott Mills in 5:35. VHTRC
president Joe Clapper was keeping pace with the leaders but thought
he would get to the beer faster if he hitched a ride to the finish at
mile 26. The first women 50K finishers were Linda Wack and Gaynor
Bourgeois in 6:29. Meggie Havemann arrived about 1 minute later in
6:30.

Due to the addition of the single track trail portions not included
in the previous version of the run, the course may have been a bit
slower than the original Potomac Heritage 50K. A small pack of
runners arrived in less than 6 hours and 30 minutes and a few more in
less than 7 hours. The bulk of the runners finished somewhere
between 7 and 9 hours. The very warm temperatures this year may also
have slowed people down a bit. Many people also reported doing bonus
miles.

We had some difficulties keeping the course markings up and apologize
to those who might have encountered a scarcity of course markings
late in the run. Olwen Huxley spotted a little girl walking with a
handful of green ribbons in Battery Kemble park. We replaced these
ribbons, but later learned that ribbons had also later disappeared in
Dumbarton Oaks Park.

Many thanks to the wonderful volunteers. Jaret Seiberg, Seth Mosier,
and I worked on the run for several months. Amy Bloom, Steve Platt,
Michele Bur, Mike Priddy, Linda Poteate, Mary Deppa, Peyton Robinson,
Carolyn Sutherland, Don Kresal, Tom Corris, Jeff Hearell, and John
Hayward all helped out a lot! Big thanks to Mike Bur for performing
the race day “whipping boy” role! (I guess that pays
back the pacing debt he owes me from Leadville.)

Results (fat-ass style) with important notations are included below.
We kept track of times for a little while, but reporting of times was
entirely optional, so only some of the times are included.

Results

Audited and updated on Tuesday, November 4

Finishers
(5-6 hours)
Michael Wedemeyer 5:15!
Scott Mills 5:35 stashed car borrowed by VHTRC president
for beer shortcut
(6-6:30)
Mike Broderick 6:15 bonus miles
Billy Lese got married in Vegas last weekend?
Gaynor Bourgeois 6:29 tied as first woman
Linda Wack 6:29 tied as first woman
Meggie Havemann 6:30 second by a hair
Tim Foley 6:30 and still had energy to clean up the house
(6:30-9 hours IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)
Ed Cacciapaglia 6:45
Carl Camp 8:01
Ray Charbonneau 7:00 Visiting from MA
Rita Cronley 8:03
Anstr Davidson Hey—did he leave without drinking a beer?
Joe Decker world’s fittest man earned beer/cigar bonus miles
John Dodds Will there be a report?
Hugh Gordon 8:06
Anne Andrews
Susan Baehre Disappointed that the course had some downhills
Beverly Bennett 7:20 Ready for JFK
Vicki Kendall 7:20 Club’s most improved rumored to have led pack astray
Jay Korff 6:32 may have picked up some bonus miles
Sharon Lapkoff 7:22
Paul Morgan 8:34 picked up the pace to catch a flight
Steve Oesterle More beer/cigar bonus miles!
Bob Phillips intentionally missed a turn!
Jeff Reed 8:02
Steve Rothandler 7:12
John Schwabe 7:25 found his way back after Tuesday night practice
Charlie Miracle 7:30 briefly seen roaming on Nebraska Ave
Micaela Shaugnessy ran with Mark’s #
Jim Sullivan 8:03 two ultras in a weekend
Joni Fontana Kerr
26+miles
Jason Murray 31 (28 course miles +3 non-course miles)
Michael Kamin 26 (the Fredericksburg crowd
Renee Holmes 26 left early for the long drive down 95)
Mike Holmes 26
Joe Clapper 27 and shortcut back to the beer
Quatro Hubbard ran the course he would’ve set
Jen Jacobs the twin runner
Emily Jacobs the other twin runner
Chris Shanley came back looking very fresh
19 miles
Olwen Huxley missed aid station 1—caught course vandal
Karen Krieg 10 minutes late but did some catching up
Melissa McCartney Way to go sloppy!
Colleen Snyder seen roaming the streets of Arlington
Maria Bertacchi roaming with Charlie on Nebraska Ave
James Moore 19 and back to the refreshments
Rebecca Moore happy and rested at the finish
Leah Olszewki overheated at chain bridge
Kirstin Walcott and volunteered too!
Joe White last minute entry
Edgar Bennett waiting for Beverly
Laurie Timberlake Kirstin’s moral support
Parvannah Daneshmand last minute surprise entry
Kevin Parker another surprise entry
Audrey Sumaray left off first list, considering legal action